Crusader
by LittletonPace
Summary: *Case centric. Not B/A* The butler of a wealthy New York businessman is found dead under suspicious circumstances. When the rest of the staff is targeted, Goren and Eames suspect something is very wrong within the confines of this perfect life.
1. Staircase

Note – My Spanish is rusty; forgive me ;-)  
This story is set around the end of season 3 and the start of season 4.  
No BA-ness. If you're after a ship fic; this ain't it ;-)

_In New York City's war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the Detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories._

**Chapter 1: Staircase**

Madia Alvarez shifted baby Matthew onto her other hip as she headed for the kitchen. He was only eighteen months old but he was already punctual. For the past six months he'd been waking up at seven o'clock on the dot each morning. It certainly made Madia's job easier. She lived in Walker Manor as Matthew's Night Nanny. Despite what it sounded like; it wasn't that difficult a job. She cared for Matthew in the evenings and at night should he wake up. All other times he was with the Day Nanny, Abby. And since Matthew had been sleeping through the night, Madia had been enjoying her work more than ever.

Madia entered the kitchen humming a Spanish lullaby she used to sing her daughters when they were younger. That was many years ago now, all three were in college. Her job here in America with the Walkers was paying for it along with Rico's, her husband's, job as a taxi driver. Madia set Matthew in his high chair and fixed him breakfast. She knew Mrs Walker would be home from her vacation today but her presence wasn't really felt around the house when she _was_ there. Madia referred to her as _palo de golf_ to Rico. It meant 'brat' in Spanish. She spent all Mr. Walker's money on herself and only rarely saw her son. Madia and Abby were pretty much his only family. As well as William Montague, the butler, but he was very a very proper, professional from England so he wasn't as relaxed as Abby and Madia were with the baby.

As she thought of him, Madia wondered where Montague was. He was usually first awake and was especially prompt when Mrs. Walker was returning. He always made sure the coffee pot was full of her favourite, imported Italian coffee for when she came in the door. Madia furrowed her brow when she noticed the empty coffee pot by the sink. She finished feeding Matthew and set him in his playpen in the living room.

"Montague?" Madia called as she stuck her head into the room next door. When the Sir and Lady of the manor weren't home, William could commonly be found reading in the vast library. His usual chair was empty and no books were off the shelves. Madia pressed her lips together, glanced back at Matthew to make sure he was alright, then headed down the hall towards the second floor staircase. "Montague?" she called again as she rounded the corner for the stairs. What she saw made her gag and rear backwards in horror. Montague was lying awkwardly on the staircase with a puddle of blood around his head. "_Mi dios! Mi dios! Oh mi Dios!_" Madia cried as she hurried for the phone and dialed 9-1-1.

**xxx**

Goren snapped a pair of latex gloves on as he stood over the body of William Montague. He knelt beside the deceased and pressed his fingers into the blood pool beside his head.

His partner came up behind him and sighed. "Why am I so sure he didn't just fall?" Eames asked as she saw Goren sniff his fingers. "And that that's not just blood?"

"Its, uh...rum. There's rum in his blood." Goren told her as he glanced over the stairs.

"He was hit with a liquor bottle?" Eames guessed.

"Well...no glass shards on the stairs." Goren got to his feet, took a few steps up and looked down at the body. "Look at the way he's positioned."

Eames stepped backwards and noticed the awkwardness of Montague's pose. "He was moved into this position." she nodded.

"To make us think he'd fallen." Goren agreed. "But whoever did this isn't smart. The wound on his head is facing up, not down as if he collided with the stairs." Goren sighed and stepped down beside Eames. "This isn't where he died."

"I talked to the Nanny, Madia Alvarez. She lives here, too." Eames read from her notepad. "She's Spanish; her English is a little rusty but she told me she's worked here for almost two years; said Montague was already living here. He's usually up before her and when she didn't see him she went looking and found him on the stairs."

Goren glanced down the hallway to where a beautiful woman was rocking a baby back and forth as he sucked on her thumb. "She doesn't look Spanish..."

"No; that's not her. Mrs. Alvarez is outside being treated for shock. That is Abby Mackenzie, the _Day_ Nanny." Eames told him with a smirk.

"They have two Nannies?" Goren asked. "They have more kids?"

Eames shook her head. "Seems to me like Mr and Mrs Walker don't spend a lot of quality time with little Matthew."

"Where are Mr and Mrs Walker?" Goren asked her.

"Day Nanny claims Mrs. Walker's due home today from a two week long stay at a spa while her husband," Eames checked her notes. "Is working in Singapore. He's a Stockbroker; always on the road."

"Walker, Banks & Henderson," Goren nodded, recognizing the name. "Named in the top three Most Successful businesses in New York this year."

Eames nodded. "Mr. Jonathon Walker and his two buddies started it up about twenty years ago." She told him. "Both Nannies say Mr. Walker is away for almost ten months of the year."

"Good looking family," Goren noted as he eyed a portrait against the wall behind his partner. It depicted Jonathon Walker standing behind his wife with a smug smile. Mrs. Walker was sitting with her son in her lap with a stunning smile plastered on her face. "Is that his wife or his daughter?"

"Leila Walker, twenty-five." Eames told him. "They married three years ago, methinks around the time little Matthew was conceived."

"You're thinking shotgun wedding." Goren inferred. Eames nodded. "First marriage for both?"

"Her; yes. Him; no. Ms. Mackenzie said he was married about a decade ago to a Laurel Walker but she died a couple of years before his second wedding." Eames said with a loose shrug. "Abby doesn't know what from."

There was a loud crash from the front door as a very flustered looking young woman came bustling into the house. "What the hell is going on here?" She yelped as she saw the police officers.

"The lovely Mrs. Walker, I presume." Eames muttered at her partner as she made her way towards her.

Goren stayed back and watched Mrs. Walker's body language. First she tossed her coat and bag to the people trailing behind her, then she stood before Eames pouting as she was told what was going on, then she checked herself in the mirror and snapped something to one of her entourage about calling her husband. Not once did she look at Abby or her son. Nor did she asked about the welfare of Mrs. Alvarez. She strutted into the living room talking in a loud, shrill voice to make sure she was heard. "My husband will have all of your jobs; you know that?" She snapped. Goren saw Abby roll her eyes to herself as she continued to jiggle the baby gently in her arms.

"Well, that was a treat-and-a-half." Eames said sarcastically as she came back to Goren. "Mrs. Walker says she's been at the Sunset Springs Spa for two weeks 'recuperating'."

"From what?" Goren asked; his eyes still on Abby as Mrs. Alvarez came back inside. Abby immediately put a comforting arm around her.

"Who knows? Hard to believe someone who lives like this needs vacation..." She saw Goren's attention was diverted. "What?"

"Look at the way Ms. Mackenzie is with Matthew." He told her. "She's comforting him like...well, like a mother."

"Trophy wife like her," Eames nodded at Mrs. Walker as she reappeared with an iced drink in her hand. "Probably doesn't spend a lot of time with her son."

Mrs. Walker came up to the Detectives. "How long are your people gonna be in my house?" She asked resting a hand on her hip. "My masseuse will be here at ten and I'd rather not have police and bodies and blood around."

"Masseuse? I thought you just came back from vacation..." Eames reminded her.

"Edward always comes at ten." Leila said matter-of-factly.

"Your son," Goren spoke up. "How old is he?"

"One." Leila replied.

Goren smiled. "Your Nanny said eighteen months..."

"Same thing." Leila shrugged. "Just get your people out of my house." She pushed between Eames and Goren and headed towards the kitchen.

"Couple more things, if I may." Goren turned around towards her. "Ah, Mr Montague...how long's he been working for you?"

"I dunno," Leila shrugged. "He was here when I moved in."

"And your husband, John? Where is he?" Goren asked.

"Some Asian city," Leila shrugged as she took another sip of her drink. "He'll be back at the end of the week."

"He'll need to be back before then." Eames told her. "You see, there's been a _murder_ here." She couldn't pass up the chance to patronize her just a little bit. This was the kind of wife and mother Eames despised.

Leila rolled her eyes. "If you can get John back early; good for you. But John _never_ comes home early. For anything."

Goren smelled something in the air. "Ah, are you...drinking rum?"

"So what?" Leila snapped.

"This early in the morning?" Goren continued noticing her bleary eyes. "You already look like you've had a few drinks..."

"God; you sound like Montague. Just get your people out of here." She turned and stalked down the hallway.

Goren turned to his partner. She simply raised her eyebrows in response.

**xxx**

That afternoon when they got back to the Major Case building, Eames immediately looked into Leila Walker's alibi via her bank charges. Goren was sitting at his desk across from her going over the ME report of William Montague. "Oh, the woes of a corporate wife," Eames mumbled as she glanced over the bill. "Leila racked up over a hundred and fifty grand's worth of bills at the Sunset Springs Spa. Facials, body wraps, Botox, mud baths...and the list goes on...and on."

"ME says COD was blunt force trauma to the head, caused a hemorrhage." Goren informed her. "He bled out."

Eames furrowed her brow. "If that's the case, there wasn't nearly enough blood at the scene."

"Killer cleaned it up first, maybe laid plastic down?" Goren suggested. "Time of death was about two hours before we were called."

Eames nodded. "I talked to the owner of the Spa, Natalie Crow, she said Mrs. Walker is a monthly visitor. She can't vouch for exact times, though. Why would Leila kill the butler? Someone who makes her easy life that much easier?"

"She made a comment when I asked about the rum..." Goren reminded himself. "Montague didn't approve of her drinking; maybe she got drunk and clobbered him in rage?"

"But where? CSU combed top and bottom of that place and didn't find any blood." Eames told him. "And drunk or not; she couldn't lug a body very far."

"Might be why he was on the stairs?" Goren suggested. "Too heavy for her to carry..." He handed Eames the ME report. "Post mortem marks on the body consistent with, ah, carpet burn. He was dragged to those stairs."

Eames raised her eyebrows. "Mrs. Walker's gonna get the perfect hangover cure."

**xxx**


	2. Unlikely Likely

**Chapter 2: Unlikely/Likely**

"This is mistreatment." Leila snapped as she sauntered into the interview room in a brand new outfit. "My husband will have your jobs."

"Yeah, you already said that. Sit down." Eames told her, nodding to a chair.

"You brought your son?" Goren noticed Abby sitting outside with Matthew in her lap. She was reading a book to him. Goren noted the baby looked very content.

"You're stupid people told me I had to leave my own damn house." Leila slumped into her seat and slapped her designer handbag on the table.

"And Mrs. Alvarez?" Goren asked.

"Couldn't stop crying. Abby came in earlier so Madia could go home." Leila told him as she rummaged in her bag for something.

"See, that's what I find interesting," Eames spoke up. "You have _two_ nannies for your son?"

"Raising kids is hard, Detective." Leila told her as she pulled a stick of lip gloss out of her bag. "My husband wants to make sure I have all the help I need."

"You're telling me." Goren said as he sorted through some papers in a file he'd received from the Walker bank account. "In the past year you've been to Sunset Spring Spa eleven times."

"They're good to me there." Leila shrugged as she reapplied her lip gloss.

"You also seem to have purchased a few department stores worth of clothes, handbags, jewellery..." Goren ran through the list. "I don't see any charges for your son..."

"They'd be on the staff credit cards." Leila told him vaguely. "Look; am I here for a reason?"

"Your butler was murdered in your house and you don't seem to care; that reason enough?" Eames cocked her head at Leila.

Leila scoffed. "_I_ didn't kill him. He was old. Old people die."

"No, see, he was murdered. And you don't have an alibi." Eames corrected her.

"I was at the spa. Talk to them. I wasn't supposed to come home until the afternoon but then _you people_ called." She rolled her eyes.

"Eames, that's a good idea," Goren said to his partner. "I'm gonna go call the spa." He caught his partners gaze and flicked his eyes at Abby and the baby. Eames nodded in understanding. "Can we get you anything?" he asked Mrs. Walker.

"Sparkling water." She ordered.

"We have regular water." Eames told her.

"Ugh. Then nothing." Leila said grumpily.

"Why don't you tell me about Mr. Montague?" Eames asked as Goren left the room.

**xxx**

"Six birdies, do you see?" Abby said to Matthew as she pointed to the book.

"Ba-uh." He replied hitting the book with his hand.

"Yeah, I know." Abby replied turning the page. "Seven horsies; you see?"

"Ba-uh!" Matthew said again with a grin as he hit the book. He gurgled and threw his head back into Abby's body; laughing.

Abby laughed with him. "You're so crazy, Mister Man." She cuddled him.

"Excuse me?" Goren said as he approached her.

Abby looked up at the handsome Detective and smiled. "Yes?"

"You're Mrs. Walker's Nanny, right?" he asked.

"Day Nanny, yeah." She extended her hand to him. "I'm Abby."

"I'm Detective Robert Goren." He replied as he shook her hand. "Your accent," he noted. "Australian?"

"Hey!" She grinned. "Thank you; you're the only one not to guess British first."

"You'll have to help me out with this because it's a little confusing," Goren laughed lightly and scratched the back of his head as he sat beside her. "What exactly is your job with the Walkers?"

Abby rolled her eyes. "Oh; I know. It's stupid, right? Day Nanny, Night Nanny...basically it just means Mrs. Walker doesn't have to take care of Matty at all."

Goren was taken aback by her blatant honesty. "That's...abrupt." He told her with a smile.

"I don't BS people; there's no point." Abby told him. "That's a very big difference between my people and your people. Americans always think over state things; over explain things and read too much into things. And you wonder why everyone's so confused? If you just said what you wanted to say you're country wouldn't be in the shape it's in."

"All Americans?" Goren asked.

"The ones I've met since I've been here." Abby smirked.

"And how long is that?" he took out his notebook.

"Ah, lemme think...Matty's eighteen months so...almost two years." She answered.

Goren furrowed his brow. "You were hired before he was born?"

Abby nodded. "Yeah. Leila was already pregnant when I went for my interview. She said her husband was always out of the country and she needed help for when the baby arrived. I assumed this meant I'd be helping her prepare for the birth, y'know? La Maze classes and stuff. But no; she didn't want to do any of that."

"How do you mean?" Goren pressed.

"I mean I went to classes alone. Preparing for the newborn apparently was my job and my job alone. She even had me decorate the nursery myself." Abby said.

"She didn't want to be involved?" Goren asked.

"No. Look, Detective...the Walkers...they're only as good as they look in photos." Abby told him. "They don't even share the same bed; they have separate rooms at each end of the third floor of that mansion. If you ask me; the reason they had Matty was because he looks good on their profile."

"So...he was planned?" Goren assumed. "I mean; they wanted to have children."

"_That _I don't know." Abby replied.

"What about Montague?" Goren asked. He watched her reaction carefully; seeing sadness across her eyes.

"That's just...unbelievable. He was...I just...no one would want to hurt him." She said. "In two years I don't think he ever left the house. I can't imagine he'd have any enemies."

"Was he, ah, friendly or...abrasive?" Goren asked.

"No; he was a lovely guy, really. But...I mean, he's a butler." She said. "Not exactly the kind of guy you'd see out partying."

Goren smiled "Do you work regular hours?" He asked next.

"Eight a.m. until seven p.m. every day except weekends." Abby told him. "I came in early today after I heard what happened. Poor Madia is just distraught over this."

"So you don't live at the house like Mrs. Alvarez?" Goren asked.

"No; I have my own place about ten minutes away. I didn't want to be a live-in Nanny." She explained.

"So when you're caring for Matty," Goren continued. "Do you stay at the house with him?"

"No; not usually. I take him to the park and the zoos and things like that." She told him. "Figured if I want to see the city he might like to as well."

"Mrs. Walker doesn't mind?" Goren asked.

"Detective," Abby smiled. "She's hardly ever there. She doesn't know where I am half the time. I always have my cell, I always leave numbers for where I'm going to be. She's never called. She never gets mad if I'm late. She never asks how his day was." Abby smoothed Matty's hair over his head and kissed him.

Goren smiled. "You seem very connected to him." He noted.

"Yeah; well you can't spend every waking minute with a kid and not get a little attached." She told him as Leila stormed out of the interview room.

"Call me when you have something useful to say." She was muttering to Detective Eames as she dialed on her cell phone. "Abby; let's move; the limo's waiting." She clicked her fingers at her Nanny but didn't wait for her as she headed for the elevator.

"Yes, Ma'am." Abby got to her feet and scooped up Matthew under her arm. "Sorry, Detective, I have to go."

"Thank you for talking to me." Goren told he stood up beside her. She smiled before following her boss into the elevator.

Eames sighed as she stopped beside her partner. "Well that was the longest conversation I've ever had with a suspect." She mumbled. "For what it's worth I don't make her as the killer. She wanted me to get someone in to wipe down the desk so it wouldn't dirty up her bag." Eames shook her head. "No way she could handle all the blood. What'd the Day Nanny have to say?"

"She's very attached to the baby." Goren told Eames as they headed back for their desks. "Tends to him, interacts with him...she's a dream Nanny for a couple like the Walkers; loves the kid the way the parents should."

Eames nodded. "So that the parents don't have to."

**xxx**

The next morning promptly at eight a.m., Abby arrived at the Walker mansion. When they'd gotten back from the NYPD the afternoon before, after all the police had finally left, Madia was already waiting for them saying she felt much better and was ready to get back to work. Leila didn't take any notice. The second they came in the door, she told them she was taking a bath and turning in for the night. Abby stayed for the rest of her shift, until seven that night, and then said goodnight to Matty and Madia before heading home. She'd had an uneasy sleep. Montague had been a sweet man. He'd never even raised his voice in all the time Abby had known him. One thing she'd learned about the Walker staff was that they stuck together. He would have told her if something was going on; if someone had been giving him trouble. But as she'd said to Detective Goren; she didn't know of any enemies he may have had.

So when she arrived at Walker Manor the next day, she was determined to just get to work and take care of Matty. She thought today she might take him back to Central Park Zoo. He seemed to have a crazy love for the penguins there. He was always so excited when he saw the pen in the distance. Abby wondered if it was just because she loved him but she did think of him as a bit of a genius.

"Morning Madia." Abby called as she let herself into the kitchen via the back door. When she didn't get a reply she took a good look around. Madia wasn't there. Usually she was feeding Matty breakfast at this time. Though when he was sick or if he had a bad night's sleep; she let him sleep in for awhile. Many times Abby had found Madia sewing or knitting by Matty's crib as she hummed a Spanish lullaby to him. Abby approached Matty's nursery quietly, careful not to wake him, and opened the door. "Madia?" she called softly. But she wasn't there. And the room was empty. "Madia?" Abby called loudly down the hallway. "_Vamos_, Madia." Abby called using one of the few Spanish words she knew. Then she heard Matty's faint but urgent crying from somewhere down the hall.

Relieved; Abby headed down towards the library as the cry crew louder and much more insistent. She entered the room to find Matty screaming his head off in his playpen and Madia nowhere to be seen. "Hey, Mister Man," Abby said soothingly as she reached into the crib and picked up the baby. "It's ok; I got you." She kissed his head. "Where's Madia, hm?" she asked him as she went back down the hall and heard another faint noise; water running. The second bathroom shower; to be exact. Confused; Abby headed towards it. Madia had her own bathroom; why would she use the second, first floor, guest bathroom? "Hey Madia," Abby called as she knocked on the door. "It's Abby." She knocked again. The door was unlocked and not shut properly so it just opened on it's own. "Madia?" She stepped into the bathroom. Madia was hanging limp by her neck from a rope above Abby. "Oh God!! Madia!?" she screamed, covering Matty's head so he couldn't see. Then she bolted out of the bathroom and made a beeline for the phone.

**xxx**


	3. Pattern

**Chapter 3: Pattern**

"This is just horrible!" Leila said through sobs as the camera crews gathered around her front stoop stuck out their microphones eager to lap up every word she said. "Why someone is attacking my staff, the people I trust with my life..." She buried her head in her hands. "Oh, I just don't understand it. Who'd want to hurt me like this? We are a good, loving family."

Eames hit the mute button on the TV in the office and turned to her partner. "If there was a word she said not laced in crap; I didn't hear it."

Goren smiled to himself as he looked down at the papers in front of him. "ME reports back on Mrs. Alvarez. She died of strangulation alright, but pre-mortem. She was dead before she was hung off that rafter."

Eames shook her head. "Why is someone attacking the staff of the Walkers? There are no connections between Montague's death and Madia's except that they both worked and lived at Walker Manor."

"The killer might be targeting their staff...to get at Leila. She's been pampered her whole life; maybe taking that away would be the harshest thing you could to do her." Goren suggested.

"But who wants to prove that big of a lesson to her?" Eames asked.

"I haven't figured it out yet..." Goren muttered as he went back to his papers.

"What is all that?" Eames asked. She'd been so engrossed in Leila's over-acted press statement that she hadn't been paying attention.

"Everything I could get on the Walker staff." Goren told her handing her a sheet of paper. "They have forty-two people currently in their employ. Well, now forty with Montague and Madia's deaths."

"Cooks, cleaners, gardeners, hairdressers, manicurists," Eames read. "Leila literally doesn't have to lift a finger."

"Montague had been there the longest." Goren told her. "Twelve years. He was sixty-five and originally from London, England. Came to America at age twenty and has been a butler for notable Manhattan families ever since. I have references from his old boss's saying he was the "perfect employee". Madia is from Spain but has a Green Card...this was her first job and there haven't been any complaints about her."

"I talked to some of the other staff; they said she was a very sweet lady." Eames added. "What about the Day Nanny, Abby?"

"Abigail Mackenzie, thirty-six. She's here legally; her visa's up-to-date. Her passport says she's originally from Melbourne in Victoria. Came here two years ago and has been working with the Walker's ever since." Goren informed Eames. "No criminal record for her or anyone on the staff; not even a parking ticket."

"Wealthy family like the Walkers would screen their staff." Eames said.

"Well, Mr. Walker would." Goren realized.

"Speaking of, did we get a hold of him yet?" Captain Deakins asked as he came into the office.

"Just his personal assistant, Vanessa." Eames told him. "She told me Mr. Walker is devastated over the murders and will 'endeavor to return home as soon as possible'." She smirked.

"Wonder how many more of his staff has to die for this guy to hop on a plane." Deakins mumbled. "In the meantime; Abby Mackenzie's hear to see you; she's ready to make her statement." He nodded his head out to the hall where a teary-eyed Abby was clutching baby Matthew.

**xxx**

"Madia would _never_ kill herself," Abby was shaking her head as Goren passed her a glass of water. "Never. She has three girls in Spain; she's putting them through college, her and her husband." She bit her lip. "She'd never leave Matty alone like that..."

"We received the Medical Examiner's report," Goren told Abby slowly. "Madia was murdered."

Abby stared up at him with wide, tearful eyes. "What? No, no..." She covered her face with her hands. "This is insane; why is this happening?" She through her hands out and dropped them heavily on the table. "These are good people, why is someone doing this...?"

"Well, that's what we're trying to find out." Bobby told her. "Can you run me through what happened this morning?"

Abby sighed, composing herself. "I got to work on time but Madia and Matty weren't in the kitchen where they usually are. So I went looking...found Matty in the library. Crying in his playpen. He was red in the face; he'd been crying for ages." She sniffled and rested her head in her hands. "I heard the shower running in the guest bathroom, I went in and...and I saw her..."

"The _guest _bathroom?" Goren repeated with a furrowed brow.

Abby nodded. "I thought it was weird, too." She told him. "The Walker's were very anally retentive about their space; where the staff could go and all. Madia had her own bathroom...not that she was actually _using_ the shower in the guest one..."

"Who else is in the house at night?" Goren asked Abby.

"By eight; just Madia, Matty, Leila and one of the cooks. They have a twenty-four hour chef on hand." Abby explained.

"I read that in their bills." Goren told her. "They seem to have someone help with everything."

"Yeah, they do." Abby agreed. "How long do I have to stay here for?" she glanced out the window to where Matty was sitting with Detective Eames and Captain Deakins.

"You're worried about Matty." Goren sensed.

"He's not always big on new people." Abby told him.

"Without Madia there...who takes over caring for Matty at night?" Goren asked.

Abby shrugged. "You'd have to ask Leila. All I know is I can't stay with him."

"Work and labour laws." Goren nodded. "One person can't work around the clock."

Abby nodded. "Leila just told me to drop Matty off like I normally do and someone would be there to take care of him."

Goren nodded and rifled through his papers. "I did some research on you," He told Abby. "Is Nannying a new thing for you? Because it wasn't what you studied at the University of Melbourne. "

"No, no, I studied IT. Computer Science and the like." Abby told him wiping her eyes.

"You were the top of your class every year." Goren read from the file in front of him. "Why come here and be a Nanny? You could have made a fortune with your skills..."

"My father died about three years ago." Abby told Bobby. "I got some money...my mother's always told me if I was young and had money I should use it to travel, not wait until I'm older like she did."

"That's smart." Bobby gave her a small smile. "Ms. Mackenzie-"

"Abby." She corrected him. He smiled at her. "It's my name, I'm not flirting." Abby assured him with a smirk.

"Sorry." Bobby chuckled. "Abby, you're very...straightforward."

"I told you I don't BS people." She reminded him as she rubbed her forehead.

"You have a headache?" he asked as he watched her.

"I think it's just the lights." She smiled tiredly. "But that's the point, isn't it? I'm so uncomfortable in here that it'll just scare a confession out of me."

"Not unless you have nothing to confess to." Goren told her.

Abby look confused as she lent back in her chair. "You don't seriously think I have something to do with these murders, do you? I called you guys when I found Madia!"

"Where were you when two mornings ago?" Goren asked carefully, taken note of her sudden outburst.

"You mean when Montague was killed?" She snapped. "I was at my apartment. And yes someone can confirm. My doorman saw me come in. He's there all night; he would know if I left again. There are also security cameras out the front and back of my building just in case that's not enough."

"Ms. Mack...Abby, you're not on trial here." Goren reminded her.

"Then why do I feel like it?" She chuckled lightly and rubbed her temple. "Truth is, Detective, I have had a hell of a couple of days here, alright?"

"I understand that." Goren told her. "Two of your colleagues have been murdered...must make you uneasy. Have you seen anyone suspicious hanging around the house lately? Strange phone calls?"

"No; but I'm not usually at the house." Abby said as she rubbed her temple again and winced. "I'd ask Harriet, she's the main maid."

Goren made some notes in his workbook. "Thank you, Abby. I think that's all I need for now." He got to his feet and held the door open for her. "I'll be in touch."

"Yeah, ok." Abby replied vaguely as she got to her feet; her hand still at her temple shielding her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Goren asked her as her skin turned a shade of shock white.

"No, ah, I feel a-a little dizz..." Then she collapsed forward.

Goren managed to catch her before she hit the ground and laid her down safely as Captain Deakins ran in. "What the hell happened?" He asked his Detective.

"She's not breathing," Goren said as he checked her airways. "Call an ambulance. Now!"

**xxx**


	4. Triple Threat

**Chapter 4: Triple Threat**

"Poisoned?" Eames repeated the Doctor's words as she stood before him at the hospital.

"Yes," replied Dr. Baily. "From what I could see it was from a number of common gardening chemicals. Probably exposed over the course of a week or so."

"How would she have ingested them?" Bobby asked as he glanced at an unconscious Abby through the glass partition.

"Not orally or her stomach lining would show signs of it; her scan was clear." Dr. Baily said. "I'd say through her skin. Maybe in a hand soap or shampoo."

"She wouldn't detect the smell?" Eames asked.

"No; the chemicals used are odourless." Dr Baily told her.

"When can we speak to her?" Goren asked the doctor.

"We gave her a sedative to help her sleep," Dr. Baily said. "She should wake up in within a half hour or so." His pager went off. "I'm sorry; that's the ER." He started to leave but turned back. "She's very lucky she was around people when it happened. Had she been alone and not been administered CPR she would have died within minutes." With that Dr. Baily quickly headed off down the hall.

"Hear that?" Eames nudged her partner. "You're a hero."

"Instinct isn't heroism." Goren told her.

"Actually I think that's exactly what it is." Eames smirked at him. "I'll go call CSU and get 'em over to Abby's to collect all her soaps and shampoos." She told him. She couldn't use her cell at this ward of the hospital so she told her partner she'd bring him back some coffee and headed for the next floor.

Bobby headed into the room as quietly as he could but as he pulled out a chair to sit down it scraped across the floor and Abby opened her eyes. "Sorry." Bobby apologized.

"Don't be." Abby told him. "I've been awake for awhile; just don't want them to know." She jabbed her thumb towards the nurse's station down the hall.

Goren laughed lightly. "How much did you hear?" he asked.

"Enough to know someone tried to poison me." Abby told him as she lifted herself up on her pillows a little more. "Is Matty ok?"

"Yeah, he's fine. Mrs. Walker sent over someone to pick him up. Newly hired Night Nanny; it would seem." Goren smirked.

Abby glanced at him wryly. "I like you." She smiled tiredly. Then she heaved a heavy sigh. "Did someone call my family?"

Goren nodded. "Your brother, Ben, was listed as your next of kin; he's on his way. Does that mean he lives in the US?"

"Yeah, just outside Manhattan with his wife and kids. They moved here about four years ago; Ben got transferred from his accounting firm." Abby told Goren. "He's actually the one who convinced me to come here." She added. "My mother and the rest of my family are still in Melbourne." Abby rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Did Leila ask about me; out of interest?"

Goren shook his head. "Not that I'm aware of."

"Figures." Abby smirked and rolled over slightly so she was facing Bobby.

"Abby; we think whoever poisoned you diluted something in your apartment." Bobby told her. "Perhaps shampoo or conditioner? Have you had any strange reactions to anything like that?"

Abby thought a moment. "Actually; yeah." She told him. "I can't get used to this New York weather; the cold air dries out my skin. I use a body moisturizer every night. Past week or so I'd get this weird feeling when I used it; kinda like a burning sensation."

"So you rinsed it off." Bobby assumed.

Abby nodded. "I figured it was just my skin again; it's very temperamental. Tried it again the next couple of nights with the same result."

Bobby made some notes in his notebook. "Has anyone on the Walker staff been in your apartment within the last week or so?"

Abby shook her head. "Just Matty." She smiled.

Goren smiled back. "One more thing," he said. "When we spoke before you collapsed; you mentioned when you arrived for work Matthew and Madia weren't in the kitchen...was that normal?"

Abby shook her head. "No. Even if she's done feeding him, Madia stays in the kitchen until I get there." She said. "That's why it's strange...if Madia was going to do this to herself, she would've left Matty in his high chair or at least in the kitchen..." Abby felt tears well in her eyes as she thought of her lost friend. "Detective Goren?"

"Bobby." He corrected her. She smiled at him. "It's my name; I'm not flirting." He smirked.

Abby felt a smile spread across her face. "Cute." She rolled her eyes before taking on a more serious voice. "Whoever is doing this...killing the staff? What if they come back to, y'know...finish me off?"

"We have a guard posted outside your door," Goren assured her. "Cops watching your apartment and tapping the phone lines. You'll be safe; I promise you."

"Thank you." Abby smiled.

"Bobby?" Eames called from the doorway. "They need us back at headquarters." She nodded hello at Abby. "How're you feeling?"

"Better. Thank you." Abby replied as Bobby got to his feet.

"We'll keep you posted." Goren assured her as he left the room with his partner just as a nurse was cleared by the guard to enter Abby's room.

"Awake, Ms. Mackenzie?" Nurse Adams said with a warm smile. "You're a very lucky woman, sweetheart."

"Thanks." Abby rolled back over onto her back.

"Don't thank me, honey. Thank that tall, dark and handsome detective who just left." Nurse Adams told her with a wink. "Why, if he hadn't given you CPR, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation." She patted Abby's arm and checked her IV.

"Leila may have poisoned Abby." Goren was saying to his partner as they headed for the elevator. "I mean, garden chemicals? That's an amateur move."

"But the doctor said Abby has been exposed to the chemical for a week. Which means Leila would have had to concoct said poison a week ago when she was at the spa." Eames sighed. "Maybe we're looking in the wrong place." She bit her lip. "Maybe we should be looking at Abby."

"Abby?" Goren repeated.

"She had opportunity, means..." Eames listed. "She has a back door key into the house, she's there every day, knows each victim's routine..."

"So what's the motive?" Goren asked trying not to sound defensive.

"Maybe Abby got jealous Madia got to spend nights with her favourite boy?" Eames suggested. "Somehow Montague got wind of it so she took him out of the equation. And then Madia. Then poisons herself when she knows she's going to be around people who know CPR. All the while planting little clues here and there to point us in Leila's direction. The rum in Montague's blood, for instance."

"You think that was a ruse." Goren realized.

"And you don't." Eames assumed. "Look; with Nanny's like Abby who _raise _the child, the parents most likely have measures in place to keep the Nanny on should something happen to one of them." She told her partner. "If Leila was sent to prison for these murders; in theory Abby _could_ legally be classified as Matthew's mother. And with Mr. Walker away on business ten months of the year; she'd have Matty all to herself. Maybe that's what she's been after all along."

Goren furrowed his brow. "I don't think she's capable of that. She had a strong bond with Madia; they both felt Matthew needed them since his own parents were so neglectful."

Eames glanced at him. "What exactly did you two talk about while I was gone?" she asked wryly.

"The case, her family," Bobby told her. "Why?"

"I think you made a friend." Eames teased him.

**xxx**


	5. The Past Is Real

_So, 4 years later is anyone still into this idea? lol. Truth is I lost my love for Criminal Intent in its last few seasons, but a random dream about Bobby got me thinking about it again. So here's the new chapter, enjoy :)_

**Chapter 5: The Past Is Real**

Two days later, Abby was released from hospital and sent home with strict orders to take the week off work. Armed with some new evidence about the poison that had infected Abby, Goren and Eames arrived at her apartment late afternoon to question her again.

A curvy woman with strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a braid answered the door. "Yes?"

Eames introduced herself and her partner and showed their badges. "Does Abby Mackenzie live here?"

The woman nodded. "I'm Sadie; I live upstairs," she said, still not moving from the doorway. "I'm just taking care of her 'til her brother gets here."

"May we speak to her?" Goren asked.

"It won't take long," Eames assured Sadie with a polite smile. "Please."

Abby was sitting in a chair by her window bundled in a blanket with a stack of books on her windowsill. The approaching footsteps caught her attention and she turned. "Detectives..." she said slowly, glancing between them.

"How are you feeling?" Eames asked her.

"Fine," Abby replied in the same breath as her phone started to ring. "That'll be my mother," Abby said to Sadie, who smiled, grabbed the cordless phone and left the room.

"Your mother is still in Australia, right?" Bobby asked, pulling out a chair from her desk and sitting down.

"Yeah, my brother called her even though I asked him not to, and now she keeps calling me." Abby tightened her blanket around her shoulders. "Took messages from three of my doctors to convince her that I'd be fine and she didn't have to hop on a plane and come over here." She gave a jovial roll of her eyes. "So, what happened?" Her face evened. "Did someone else get killed?"

"We found the substance that poisoned you," Eames said. "It was a cocktail of garden chemicals."

"Garden chemicals?" Abby repeated, furrowing her brow.

"No, actually I hadn't used it before. It came in a gift basket I had on my doorstep."

"Gift basket from where?"

Abby frowned. "Dunno," she shook her head. "Everyone on this floor got one, we figured they were some sorta random thing."

"Do you still have the basket?"

"Yeah," she pointed to the lowest shelf on her bookcase. "It's mostly bath stuff; and I don't have a bath so," she shrugged. "Feel free to take it."

Nodding a thank you, Eames took out her cell. "I'll get the crime scene over here to collect the baskets from the neighbours," she said stepping out of the room.

"Detective Gor-" Abby started, and then stopped herself. "Bobby. I don't have the police escort anymore... does that mean you guys don't think I'm still in danger?"

Goren inhaled deeply, considering how to answer her. Fact was, including the incident with Abby, all three crimes were almost completely different. The butler had been smashed over the head, Madia had been strangled and Abby had been poisoned. They were different ages, races, genders, none of them lived near to each other, their only connection was that they were employed at the Walker mansion. A connection that didn't seem to be leading anywhere.

"No," Bobby finally replied. "No, you're not in danger." And he hoped he was right.

* * *

The next evening, Eames was pouring over some initial lab results when Goren set a cup of coffee in front of her. "Thanks," she said, taking a sip. '"CSU said most of the neighbours still had their gift baskets and handed them over," Eames told him. "They're still testing down in the lab, but so far they haven't found any other bottles of lotion or anything with the chemicals in it."

"Whoever did it knew the address," Bobby said sinking into his desk chair. "Abby's address. Followed her from the Walker mansion..." He abruptly leant forwards and started shuffling through the file of photos the CSU team had taken. "When were the baskets delivered?"

"All the neighbours said Thursday," Eames nodded. And then a look of realization ran across her face as she connected the dots. "_Before_ William was killed."

Goren sifted through photo after photo of gift baskets, the CSU team had taken out all the items and photographed them, separating them into a small stack of photos per each neighbours basket. Bobby searched until he found every photo of the bottle body moisturizer, the product of Abby's that had been laced with poison. With a faint smile, he held up the photos to Eames. "The brands are different." He laid out the photos, showing that all the bottle of moisturizer were the same brand, _Daze_, except for Abby's. The bottle looked very similar in size and colour, but was clearly labelled _Crystal_.

As Eames took the photos to look for herself, one of the precinct's messengers came to Bobby's desk and handed him a yellow envelope. He sliced it open with his letter opener and poured the contents out on his desk.

It was a recent newspaper clipping on the deaths at the Walker mansion, and Abby's attempted murder. There was a photograph of Abby that Goren recognized from her student identification page he'd seen when he'd checked her background. The news article lined out her collapse at the police station, and noted that Goren had given her CPR. Drawn around the paragraph that included the line "_Detective Robert Goren administered the lifesaving maneuver on Mackenzie, likely saving her life_", was a red lipstick heart.

A chill ran down Goren's spine as he re-read the yellow note attached to the top corner of the article.

_What a hero you are, Bobby.  
N.W.  
xxx_


	6. Could Be Bad

**Chapter 6: Could Be Bad**

Abby had never been summoned to a police station before, let alone been chauffeured there in a police car. When she'd arrived home after some light grocery shopping there was a message on her answering machine from Detective Goren saying that a police officer was going to pick her up and bring her in to the precinct for some follow up questions.

So, instantly, Abby's day of doing nothing turned into a day where she found herself deciding on what to wear. Her favourite jeans were newly washed and clean, so she paired them with a black and maroon striped chunky sweater she'd bought with her sister in law and added her black leather ankle boots. If she was meeting with Detective Goren, she could use the extra height. He towered over her, handily intimidating for a Detective. But he was also kind, and handsome, and had an endearing quirkiness about him that Abby liked.

With her chestnut brown hair loosely braided, Abby tightened her tan trench coat around her waist and loped an emerald, wool scarf around her neck before locking her apartment door and heading out to where a young police officer was waiting by her car on the curb.

A rush of icy air hit Abby right in the face when she stepped onto the street, and she immediately had to pull her scarf taut. The weather was always too cold for her in New York, even after almost two years she still hadn't acclimatized. She shivered all the way through her squad car ride to the precinct, and she only started to warm up on the elevator ride to the Major Case Squad.

Anxiety bubbled through her veins as she stepped out of the elevator. The last time she'd been in this building she'd collapsed. Her heart thudded against her chest as she spied the interview room where she'd fainted, and she was grateful when a rushed looking Detective Eames showed her to a different room while she waited for Detective Goren.

In contrast to all the other times she had seen him, Bobby wasn't calm when he came in. He didn't smile and averted Abby's eyes as he shut the interview room door. He had a file in his hands, and sat quietly opposite her.

Suddenly, Abby felt tense. The whole vibe between them had shifted. Instead of the flirty banter Abby had been enjoying, the mood had turned serious and cold. That pulse of anxiety ran through her again.

"Ms. Mackenzie, have you heard the name Elizabeth Hitchens?" Goren finally asked.

Something in the way he spoke stopped her from reminding him that he could call her by her first name. "Uh, no." The name didn't ring a bell.

"How about Nicole Wallace?"

"No," Abby said. "Who are they?"

Goren didn't answer her, but he abruptly opened the file and removed a glossy image. "Do you recognize this woman?"

Abby scanned the photo of a beautiful woman with sparkling, brown eyes and golden blonde hair. The woman was smiling, a perfect smile complete with dimples. But, Abby had never seen her before. "Never seen her before." Abby slid the photo back to Bobby. "Who is she?"

"A possible suspect." Goren replied.

Abby's brow knitted together. "With what's happening at the Walkers?" Leaning forward, she took another look at the woman in the photos.

"Ms. Mackenzie, how long have you been in the United States?"

Looking up at him, she again was tempted to tell him to stop referring to her so formally. "You already know that," she ventured a smile that he didn't return. So, biting into her bottom lip, she answered him. "Almost two years."

"And you're originally from Melbourne, Australia?"

"Yes." Abby almost scoffed; he knew all this already.

He nodded. "Have you ever been to Brisbane, Queensland?"

"Nope. Until I came here, I'd never left Melbourne."

Still not looking at her, he continued questioning. "Where did you work immediately before you came to the states?"

Abby felt her tension morphing into suspicion. He was smart, she knew he was. And she definitely knew all of this information about her. There had to be a reason she was being drilled, a reason that he clearly wasn't sharing. "I worked at a child care centre for two years."

Not meeting her eyes, he wrote her answers on a form in the folder. "And before that?"

"Before that, I worked part-time almost five years in my university library in computer tech while I studied." Anticipating his next question, Abby continued. "Before _that_ I worked at a coffee shop for three years, before that I was a cashier at a very, very, _very_ boring general store," she raised her eyebrows. "Want me to keep going?" She added crisply. "'Cos I also spent about three weeks working at a mechanics when I was fifteen. And I sold tickets to a circus one summer."

Goren, sensing her annoyance, managed a businesslike smile. "They're routine questions."

"Yeah, but you've already asked me them." Abby tapped her finger on the photo. "Who _is_ this?" she held her eyes open expectantly at him, waiting for his answer. She was never going to convince him to tell her unless he wanted to; she knew that. A cop is surely the last person who would be berated into divulging information. But, Abby was a little annoyed. They'd been having fun in their interviews, or at least she had been. Maybe it was the initial part of his whole Detective routine and now he was being a straightforward bore.

"Her name is Nicole Wallace," Bobby suddenly said, to Abby's relief. "She lived under the alias of Elizabeth Hitchens. She's wanted in connection with a string of murders but it can't actually be proven that she orchestrated them." For the first time, he met her eyes and held her gaze. But still there was nothing flirty or fun between them. "She manipulates, and gets other people to commit the murders for her."

Abby wasn't sure what to say. New York was different to Melbourne in almost every way, but in the past month with all the death and murders she'd been exposed to, all the cops and Detectives, it just seemed like a bad dream. It didn't seem like a real problem she would have to be dealing with. And now a psychotic manipulator was involved? Abby didn't see the connection to what had happened to her, or to Madia and William. "What does that have to with the Walkers?"

Slowly, Goren pulled a newspaper article from the file that was taped up tight in an evidence bag. "Maybe nothing," he said sliding the article in front of her. "Maybe everything."

It was an article from a recent paper, she'd read it herself. Sadie had pointed it out to her while she was taking care of her. The article that mentioned the murders of the Walker staff, and the attempted murder of Abby. Only, on this article, someone had drawn a love heart around Abby's picture and Bobby's name. On the yellow note attached to the top corner of the paper read:

_What a hero you are, Bobby._

_N.W._

_xxx_

"Nicole Wallace?" Abby deciphered from the initials, and took another look at the picture Goren had showed her. "This woman wrote this to you?"

"She's extremely intelligent, manipulative, resourceful and sadistic." Goren explained.

Looking at the drawn hearts again, Abby scanned the message to Bobby once more trying to understand. "So... she's messing with you," Abby looked confused. "And, what, she picked me just because I'm Australian and you're working on this case?"

"Possibly." Goren nodded.

"Well, I've never seen her before." Sighing, Abby leant back in the chair and rubbed her hands across her face. "Okay..." she threaded her hands through her hair, loosening her braid. "What happens now?"

"A police officer will escort you home," Goren said packing up the paperwork as he stood. "And resume guarding you."

Abby raised her eyebrows at him. "That's it?" She gave a limp shrug of her shoulders. "There's a nutcase after me and you're just sending me home?"

"If you see her, think you see her, get any weird calls or messages," he took a business card from his breast pocket and held it out to her. "Call me."

With a roll of her eyes, Abby scoffed under her breath, took the card and exited the room. She knew her reaction was immature, he was a cop. Of course he was serious most of the damn time. Of course he put on an act of flirting with her to create some sort of connection where he wouldn't have to work as hard to get information out of her.

More than anything else, it was her own embarrassment at being excited to come down here in the first place that was making her mad. No one gets asked out during a murder investigation anyway.

* * *

As Bobby watched Abby leave, he scowled. Abby and Nicole Wallace. There was a connection and he had to find out what it was. Either Abby and Nicole were working together, or Abby was next on Nicole's list.

"How'd it go?" Eames said sidling up to her partner.

Bobby shook his head. "Nothing in her reaction suggested she's seen or heard from Nicole," he rubbed at a knot forming in his neck. "But Nicole would have prepared her for that."

"_If_ she's involved." Eames sighed. "Nicole is a sociopath. She could have just seen the article and your name and thought it was a great chance to screw with you."

Bobby watched Abby disappear with the officer into the elevator. "It's more than that. It has to be."

Just then, a woman in her late forties with pale blonde hair approached the Detectives, clutching her pocket book over her shoulder. "Excuse me?" she said to Eames. "The man at the front desk said I should speak to Detective Eames about the Walkers?"

"I'm Detective Eames." Nodding, Eames shook her hand. "And you are?"

"Laurel Walker," her lips pulled into a polite smile. "I'm John's ex-wife."

Eames gave her as pleasant a grin as she could muster. "Well, you sure don't look dead."


	7. Maddening

**Chapter 7: Maddening**

Eames sat across from the delicate Laurel Walker, listening to her story. All research into her details proved that she was the same Laurel Walker who had married John Walker. She was who she claimed to be, but Eames had no idea why Leila Walker decided to tell the world John's first wife was deceased.

"I saw John's name in the paper," Laurel was saying, fiddling with the rim of her plastic cup of water. "And it mentioned me, his "late first wife" and," she smiled. "I thought it was funny. I was at lunch with a friend at the time, and we thought it was hilarious. There was my name in print, claiming that I was dead."

"Where do you live in the city?" Eames asked.

"Oh, I don't. Not anymore." Laurel replied. "I believe it's some form of serendipity that I even saw the article," she continued. "I'm only in town for three weeks. I live in California now but I still visit friends here. I assume John never thought I'd see it, it's not like we still talk."

"Do you mind me asking why?"

Laurel sighed. "John's a workaholic. Textbook. It's not that he avoids everything else, he just goes crazy if he's not working. His mind is always on his job." Laurel shrugged. "He wanted a child, and I didn't want to raise one without him. So we divorced. It was kept quiet, of course, to protect John's business. But we didn't really speak again."

Still puzzled, Eames continued to question her. "Why would he let people believe that you were dead?"

"To stop them looking into his past, I suppose."

Eames raised her eyebrows. "His past?"

"Oh, nothing crooked in his business practices." Laurel said quickly. "No, he's a very reliable man. With his work, that is. His personal life, well... he allowed himself more... _freedom_."

"He had an affair?" Laurel nodded. Eames clicked her ballpoint pen and poised it on her notepad to write. "Do you know her name?"

"_His_ name." Laurel corrected her with a polite smile. "John was in love with another man. Billy."

"Billy... William." Eames suddenly realized. Billy was William Montague. John was in love with his butler.

xxx

A puffy-eyed Abby answered the door when Goren arrived at her apartment that afternoon. Still on medical leave from work, Abby was meant to be taking it easy at her apartment. But then Goren saw her. She was almost the exact opposite of herself as Bobby knew her, and he realized just how much of Abby's personality he saw in her eyes. Or rather, what he didn't see as she stood before him. Her smile was nonexistent, her skin was pallid and she was slumped forwards like it had taken her a great deal of energy that she hadn't wanted to use to bother answering her door.

And with no spark in her eyes or her voice, she coughed out one word to him. "What?"

"Can I come in?" Shrugging, Abby walked away from the open door, so Bobby took that as an invitation and came inside, shutting the door behind him. He followed Abby into her apartment and noticed the gray sweat pants she wore, and the over-sized t-shirt with I LUV NY written on it. She shuffled to the couch and flopped down, not even looking at him. "You're upset." He deduced with minimal effort.

"Well, I just got fired so yeah," she sat cross-legged on her sofa and stared vaguely at the television, broadcasting a black and white movie. "I'm not my normal, radiant self."

"I'm sorry." Goren said, and he was. From what he'd seen, she was an excellent Nanny.

Abby just sighed heavily, and limply threw out her hand to gesture to Bobby that he was welcome to sit. "What can I do for you?"

"Laurel Walker is alive." Goren stated, paying attention to her reaction.

Abby's eyes rounded with absolute surprise. "What?"

"You didn't know."

"No, I..." Abby's brow crinkled. "Are you sure it's her?"

Bobby nodded. "So you never met her?"

"No, not once." Abby scratched at the back of her neck. "Leila told me in my first job interview that Laurel had died, but she never said what from. I thought it was rude to ask."

"And Mr Walker?"

"He would never talk to me about stuff like that. He asks about Matty." With a roll of her eyes, she corrected herself. "I mean, he used to. I doubt he'll be asking anymore."

"Leila fired you."

Abby nodded. "Said with all the _excitement_, she didn't want me to be stressed taking care of Matty," she muttered to her hands. "Really, I don't care about me. I mean, I can find work, but Matty just," her eyes filled with fresh tears that she hastily wiped away with the back of her hand. "I've been with him every day since the day he was born. So has Madia. And now we're gone and he's not going to know who the hell is taking care of him. They won't know that he only eats bread cut into triangles, or that he has a red teddy bear for his naps and a green alien thing for when he leaves the house." The little laugh she gave was humourless. "Hell, I don't even think Leila knows any of that."

"Well, as detached as the Walkers seem... they have good taste in staff." Bobby said honestly.

"Yeah... well," she flicked her thumbnail against her forefinger. "Doesn't matter now."

xxx

"I'm sure it wasn't something he planned," Laurel continued with Detective Eames. "The relationship with Billy. John was concerned that a man as powerful as he would be viewed differently by his peers. He believed the smartest decision was to hide it."

"So why did you keep the secret?" Eames asked.

Laurel sighed and threaded her fingers together. "As much anger as there was - _is_ - between John and I; I didn't see the point in destroying his career. He's a good man. Odd, but good."

"He sends you money." Eames knew too well how much cash could buy silence.

Laurel shifted in her seat. "Yes. He keeps me well taken care of; if all it was is payment for my silence than I could live with it." Shaking her head, she clenched her hands together. "But people are being murdered. Good people. William..." her eyes misted over.

"Are you suggesting John is involved in these murders?"

Laurel immediately shook her head. "Just the opposite, Detective," she said firmly. "My husband created an entire life to hide Billy in the shadows. Marrying Leila, having their son, it stopped the questions from the public. He had it all, wealthy businessman, beautiful wife, an heir," she wiped a tear from her cheek. "He is a man obsessed with what he can gain, not what he would lose. Losing William?" She seemed to almost laugh at the notion. "Never happen. No, John would fight to keep his life the same, not change things up."

Sprouts of a theory began to develop in Eames's mind. As she finished up with Laurel and allowed her to leave, she considered the first wife's description of her husband. Laurel didn't come off as a malicious woman, she was honest and she did seem to have an honest connection to her husband even if they were divorced.

But something had happened, something had to have happened. William was dead. Madia was dead. Abby had been poisoned. And Nicole Wallace was involved.

Or was she?

Eames had her own copy of the article Nicole had sent to Goren, and she looked at it again with fresh eyes. There was something about _this_ article that had triggered Nicole, it certainly wasn't the first paper to mention the Walker murders. Eames was able to locate copies of all articles released to the public surrounding the attacks on the Walker staff. Some of them mentioned Eames' name, some Goren's, some both, some neither. But certainly the mentioning of both Goren and Abby's name in one article wasn't an anomaly.

The only connection that Eames could see between Abby and Nicole was their nationality. And that was a pointless argument that proved nothing.

But deciding to run with the loose theory, Eames went through the articles a second time looking for references to Australia. She only found one in an article the day after Madia's murder, there was a quote from Abby in the paper about how dear a friend Madia was. And the paper referred to Abby as "The Walker's Australian Nanny."

Eames took note of the date of the article, it had ran in the paper two days before Abby was poisoned. Three days after that, Abby had been released from hospital and Nicole had sent her taunt to Bobby.

Nicole had only came into the picture _after_ Abby's poisoning had appeared in the paper.

_After_ it had been mentioned that both Abby and Nicole hailed from the same country.

_After_ the first two murders had already been committed.

A worrying thought came to Alex's head. Maybe Nicole had poisoned Abby, but what if it was _only_ Abby that she'd targeted purely for the fact that it would ruffle Bobby's feathers? And, if that were true, then that meant there was a second killer.

xxx


	8. Tomorrow Is A Different Day

**Chapter 8: ****Tomorrow Is A Different Day**  


It was after two in the morning when Bobby got a call from a bartender in the city. The ring of is cell phone didn't wake him, he'd been staring at his ceiling willing for sleep to come. Having given his business card out to numerous victims and witnesses in the past, it wasn't the first call he'd answered from someone he didn't really know, but it wasn't often that he got a call from someone who'd found his card on _another_ person.

The bartender, a friendly young man named Dan, met Goren at the entrance of his bar and locked the door right behind him. "Sorry to call you so late, Detective," Dan said. "But I couldn't get onto her brother and your card fell out of her wallet." He pointed to a table against the wall where a woman was slumped over resting her head on her arms. "I left a couple of messages with her brother but..." He trailed off with a shrug as he went back behind the bar. "I asked her for her keys, she said she walked here." He smirked. "I should've closed an hour ago."

"Ok, ah, I'll-I'll take her home," Goren shook his hand. "Thanks."

Abby looked like she'd fallen asleep at the table, but seemed pleasantly surprised to see Goren approaching her. Surprised, and puzzled. "What are you doing here?" she asked dazedly, running her finger around the lid of the salt shaker.

"My card was in your wallet." Bobby stood by the table and jerked his head back towards the door. "It's nearly three in the morning, come on, let's go."

"Oh, Bobby," Abby sighed. "Everything sucks," she became very focused on pouring the salt onto the table. "Madia died. She has three kids. I don't even know if _they_ know she's dead." Abby started circling her fingertip in the mound of salt as she rambled. "She was such a nice person, when I got the flu she brought me soup. She gave me leftovers, all the time. I think she missed being a mother. She was so good with Matty..."

Dan, looking rushed leant over the bar towards his last two customers. "Look, I really gotta close up, I got a new baby at home..."

"Okay, we're going," Goren said, figuring the sooner he got Abby into fresh air the better. "Come on," he gestured to her to stand up. "Let's go."

Groaning, Abby heaved herself up onto her feet and wandered towards the door of the bar. Dan let them out, locked up and left. Goren tried to direct Abby towards his car, but she was too busy staring at the sky.

"This city is filthy," she said, wandering into the empty street. "You can't even see the stars."

"Abby, come on," Bobby followed her. There was no traffic, but he could tell she was only one wonky step away from tripping over her own feet. "You need to get some sleep."

"Yeah..." Abby came back towards him. "Damn, Bobby, I almost died last week." The sudden memory of this made her stop still just in front of him. "But I didn't die... because of you," she poked his chest with her forefinger. "You saved me." For some reason, this made her laugh. "I was supposed to die, wasn't I?" She stood back and started twirling herself around the post of a street sign. ""So, Bobby... why do people do stuff like that?" she asked. "Figuring it out, that's your job, right? That's what you do." She stopped spinning and hugged the pole to her chest. "Why did someone kill William and Madia? Why did someone poison me? Why is that nutcase woman obsessed with you?" She narrowed her blue eyes at him, studying him. "Why are people crazy?"

"It's not craziness," Bobby answered her. "Not always."

"Then what is it?"

"People are... intricate. And contradictions of themselves." Bobby explained. "Indecisive and decisive at the same time," he stopped himself from continuing because she was clearly too inebriated to be taking in any information. "They're puzzles." He finished. "Hard to solve."

Abby rocked forwards on her toes as an engine rumbled towards them. "Then why do you do it?"

A car door slammed. "Abby?"

Turning to her left, Abby's eyes lit up. "Ben!"

"Jesus," Ben swore, embracing his sister. "Layla woke me up and said the phone kept ringing, there were a half dozen messages from this bar." He held his sister's by her shoulders and checked her over. "Are you alright?"

"I'm perfect." Abby replied, falling into his shoulder and hugging him tight.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Ben said quickly shaking Goren's hand. "She's not a drinker, I swear, but she's had a really bad coupla' weeks. Are you the guy who called me?"

"No, I'm Detective Goren," Bobby introduced himself. "You're Ben?"

"Yeah, her brother," he nodded at Abby. "You're a detective? You're not arresting her, are you?"

"No, I was just nearby," Goren thought on his feet. "Looked like she could use some help."

"Well, thanks again," Ben hooked an arm around his sister's shoulders and led her away. "I'll take her home."

Goren watched Ben load his sister into his SUV and drive off; curious still as to what Nicole had to do with this woman.

**xxx**

"You're serious?" Deakins asked Eames as he walked in step with her and Goren back to their shared desks. "It's just coincidence that Nicole Wallace's name comes up in this case?"

"No, not coincidence," Alex said. "I'm saying she saw an opportunity to screw with Bobby and she took it. She's making us think she's more involved than she is."

Deakins turned to Goren. "Is that what you think?"

Sighing, Bobby nodded. "She's her own red herring. She gets to infiltrate my work without having to be involved. She knows that," he sat heavily into his desk chair. "She knows how frustrating that would be for me."

"So," Deakins addressed Eames again. "She's not our killer?"

Alex shook her head and sat down at her desk. "I don't think so. Not of the butler and the maid. I think she poisoned Abby to mess with Bobby, but I think someone else killed Madia and William."

"Okay," Deakins crossed his arms across his chest. "Who?"

"My money's on John Walker." Eames said. "I think he got into some sort of lover's tiff with Montague and killed him. And I think Madia found out so John took her out, too."

"But I thought John was out of the country?"

"So did we," Eames said shuffling through her papers for something in particular. "But the airline confirms that John Walker never landed in Singapore. I checked their airline booking; John Walker isn't listed as a passenger."

"So..." Deakins held out his hands. "Where is he?"

"I'm checking hotels in the city, even out of the city. I think he's still here." Her desk phone began ringing. "Eames," she answered the phone, reacting immediately and signalling to her partner to get moving. "We're on our way."

"What's going on?" Deakins asked.

"That was Abby," Eames said, getting to her feet. "Said her doorman just gave her a present. Matty Walker was dropped off at her apartment."

**xxx**


	9. Sleep Now

**Chapter 9: Sleep Now**

"No, I've never seen her before." Abby rocked a fussy Matty back and forth in her arms in front of her humming stereo. "I just assumed she was his new Nanny, she had all his stuff."

"So," Goren scanned the books on her bookshelf noting her rows of dystopian novels and vast movie collection. "You woke up and he was already here?"

"The doorman kept calling," Abby replied. "I went to go downstairs and she was at my door with Matty."

"And what did she say to you?"

"She said I had to look after him, handed me his bag and left." Abby shifted Matty to her other hip. "She had an accent, but I didn't recognize it." Turning, she hit the volume button to turn up the relaxing music.

"Classical," Goren pointed at the stereo and then at Matty. "Soothes him?"

"Some sort of sleeping aid," Abby replied with a shrug. "John brought it back for Matty from somewhere."

"Is that normal for him?" Goren asked. "John? He always bring back a souvenir for his son?"

"Yeah, most of the time." Abby nodded. "He's addicted to his job, but he loves his boy. He spends more time with him when he's home than Leila does; and Leila rarely leaves the city."

Out of curiosity, Goren asked a question he'd been pondering. "Is it written that you would legally have custody of Matty if something were to happen to his parents?" he asked, watching her carefully reaction.

Abby stopped pacing, and her face paled. "Do you think they're dead?" Her eyes widened in alarm. "Did-did something happen to them?"

"We're having trouble reaching both Leila and John." Goren admitted.

Clinging Matty to her chest, Abby started rocking him again as a new track played on the stereo. Goren watched her tenderness with Matty, her obvious love and the child's content in her arms. It was admirable.

"Look, I'm sorry," Abby suddenly said. "For the other night. Being all..." she trailed off and rolled her eyes. "I didn't even realize I still had your card."

"It's okay." Goren assured her. "I gave it to you in case you got into trouble."

"Yeah, but I'm sure helping a drunk girl home wasn't what you had in mind."

"Doorman took a screenshot off the security camera footage." Eames announced as she came into the apartment to join them. In one hand she held a folder, in the other she held two pictures. "Got her bringing in the baby and leaving on her own a few minutes later." Eames held out the pictures to Abby for her authentication.

"Yeah, that's her." Abby confirmed, peering at the photo.

Eames slid the photos into the folder she carried. "The footage shows her walking in off the street and then back into the crowd."

"So can I take care of him?" Abby asked Eames. "He doesn't have to go to an orphanage or something, does he?"

"He's supposed to go with child services," Eames said. "But seeing as he's already here and your connection with him, I think we can hold off the paperwork for twenty-four hours."

"Okay," Abby smiled and gently patted Matty's back. "Okay, then what?"

Eames cell phone rang, so Goren answered Abby. "Then CPS will have to be notified, and he will have to be taken away." He noticed Abby's brow wrinkle and her arms close in around the baby. "Hopefully Mr. or Mrs. Walker will show up, and it won't have to go that far."

"That was the Captain." Eames said to her partner as she hung up her cell. "Our hopes have been answered; John Walker just showed up at the precinct."

**xxx**

Everything about John Walker screamed intelligent, business man. He was efficient, put together and to-the-point. He was also visibly concerned about the welfare of his family. When Goren showed to the interview room, John didn't sit down. Instead he rolled up his business shirt sleeves and paced back and forth in front of Goren.

"Where is my son?" John asked.

"He's with Abby." Goren answered.

John seemed to soften. "Good." Eames joined them.

On arrival, Eames steered the questioning elsewhere. "What about Billy?" She asked, taking a photo of Montague's dead body from the folder in front of her partner and sliding it over to John.

Clearly affected by the image, John closed his eyes and turned away. When he turned back, his eyes were wet. "Well... I assume you're showing me this because you know Billy and I were intimate. I'm not going to deny that." He cleared his throat. "That's why I'm here. I've spent almost fifty years living a lie. My father? Biggest homophobe I knew. And my mother, when I told her I thought I was gay she started going to church every day to pray for my soul."

"So..." Goren studied him, understanding his motives. "You were a good son. You did what a good son would do. You married Laurel."

"But she knew your secret." Eames reminded him.

"She said she'd always known," John explained, finally relenting and sitting down at the table. "And she understood why I had to keep it hidden. But she wanted more from her life, and I didn't blame her. So when she requested a divorce, I didn't fight it."

"But you supported her." Eames inferred. "Financially."

"She deserves it." John said with a firm nod. "She's loyal. And she remained loyal; she has kept my secret without me having to ask her."

"And Leila?" Goren offered.

Sighing, John rested his head in her hands. "Leila was right there." He said. "Right place, right time. She needed money, I needed a wife. She didn't bother me, let me work, and gave me my son."

"Did she know about Billy?" Alex asked.

"No," John admitted quietly. "I never told anyone."

Eames sat beside her partner at the table. "What made you come clean?"

"After Matthew was born, I lost both my parents in the same year." John explained. "My father had cancer, he smoked all his life even _after_ he was diagnosed. My mother had a stroke a couple of months after he died. They were gone." John's eyes glistened. "And I had Matthew. And Billy. I wanted to stop lying to everyone. Why was I hiding?"

"Leila didn't have a place in your new life." Goren stated.

"Leila didn't _want_ a place." John corrected him. "She wanted my money. And to be honest, it didn't bother me."

Eames placed a printout of a driver's licence under his nose. "This woman, Rita Brilev? Your wife fired Abby and hired her as a new Nanny for your son."

"Yes," John said carefully, looking over the ID photo. "Yes, Leila sent me her resume in an email. I approved."

"Did you approve of Leila firing Abby?" Goren asked, not looking up at John from his paperwork.

"No," John replied. "Abby's wonderful, but Leila was hysterical about the staff. Terrified that whoever had tried to kill Abby would come back when Matty was in the house. As much as I trust Abby, I couldn't stop thinking about that myself."

"You wanted your son safe." Goren deduced.

"Exactly." John nodded.

"So why would Rita dump your son at Abby's apartment?" Eames asked, putting one of the screenshots from Abby's apartment security camera footage beside Rita's license.

Alarmed, John quickly turned his head to Alex. "She did that?" His eyebrows knitted together. "I assumed it was Leila... although now that I think of it I doubt Leila knows where Abby lives." He laughed lightly, and then became alarmed. "Wait, if Rita dropped off Matty then where is my wife?"

"You haven't spoken to her since you got back to the city?"

"No, I came straight here from the airport." John said, glancing frantically between the detectives. "Can I call her?"

"Be my guest." Eames told him, meeting eyes with her partner.

After two attempts, John gave up. "Straight to voicemail. She always answers her phone. _Always_."

"Mr. Walker, do you happen to know of your wife's whereabouts when she came back from the spa?"

John rolled his eyes and scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know, um," he hit a few keys on his cell phone and brought up his calendar. "She called me on the first..."

Goren froze. "The first? Your wife said she was at the spa until the eighth."

"No, no," John held out his phone to the detectives showing the date and time of a call from their home number. "She was definitely back on the first."

Not even looking at the phone, Goren got to his feet and left the room. If Leila had been back a week earlier than she claimed to be, then her alibi was shot. She was in the city for both murders, and suddenly she was right back to being a suspect.


	10. Knocked Down

**Chapter 10: Knocked Down**

"I guess this is why you have a driver," Eames said to Leila Walker as she led her into the interview room, hands cuffed behind her back. "Can't even keep under the speed limit. Did you know you ran three stop signs before the border patrol picked you up?"

Eyes wet, Leila sat herself at the desk in front of Goren and stared at the table. "I didn't do anything." She said weakly, all bravado that she had once exhibited suddenly gone.

"Yeah, you did." Alex said. "You lied to us. You were in the city when your staff were murdered."

"I was at the spa." Leila muttered.

"No, see, you _paid_ for your usual room for two weeks," Eames said. "Usual treatments for two weeks, but you were only actually there for one."

"Where's my son?" Leila asked.

"With Abby," Eames told her matter-of-factly. "Where you left him, remember? John said he didn't think you even knew where Abby lived."

"I'm not a complete moron," Leila snapped. "Staff records are in John's computer, I found it there."

Goren clicked his finger beside his own ear to get her attention. "Back to the murders... you lied about the date you came back. "Which puts you in town for the murders with no alibi," Goren added. "If you come clean, it'll help you in the long run."

Eames tilted her head to the side to Leila. "Did William come to see you?" She asked. "Did he tell you about him and your husband?"

Glancing up, Leila looked like she might burst into tears. "You don't know anything."

"Would certainly piss me off," Eames continued, ignoring her. "To find my husband was screwing around with a guy. And one who'd worked for him for so long."

"Do you think they'd been together all these years?" Goren asked her. "It's plausible, right? That's why he kept William on his staff."

"And paid for an apartment for him, John told us about that, too." Eames said finding a document in her folder to show Leila. A photo of the crime scene, the initial crime scene where Montague had been murdered, _before_ he had been dumped on the stairs. The crime scene discovered in the very early hours of that morning. "See all that blood? Consistent with the head wound that killed him."

Leila's lip trembled. "I didn't..."

"You went to his apartment." Eames said sliding another crime scene photo in front of Leila. "Our crime team found blood, sheets, bleach and even a broken rum bottle in the dumpster outside."

Goren watched Leila, the way she chewed her lip. "Your shirt, it's silk? Hard to clean, were you wearing silk that day? A head wound bleeds like a river, you would have had it all over you. Is that how Madia found out? She saw your clothes? Saw the blood?"

"No," Leila's eyes widened. "She-she-"

"Did she see you positioning William's body on the stairs?"

Leila cleared her throat. "Madia killed herself," she tried to keep her voice even. "She killed herself."

"No, she was strangled first." Eames correct her. "Now, that one must have been tough. You couldn't bash her over the head, who'd clean up the blood at your home?"

"You strangled her," Bobby added. "Hung her up... she must have been heavy, all that deadweight, bet you _really_ needed a massage after all that."

"He ruined my life!" Exploding, Leila smacked her hands on the table. "John ruined my life, do you understand that?" she snapped. "Being Matty's mother gives me _nothing_!"

"Yes, we saw that you're prenuptial agreement was, ah, altered after your son was born." Goren said sifting through his notes for the document. "You have to be married for another thirteen years before you'd be granted half of his assets in the event of a divorce."

"But John was done playing games." Eames said. "He reached a point in his life where he didn't want to lie anymore, and wanted to live as himself. With William, out in the open."

"And that means you get nothing, Leila." Goren said. "Well, except a life sentence."

Leila jumped to her feet and slammed her hands down flat on the desk over and over. "He would have ruined everything for me!" She cried. "I had to kill Madia and William, he was going to take John from me and she would have gone along with it. This is _my_ life and John was going to change it! Don't you get that I don't mean a thing to him?"

"Well, pretty girl like you will mean a hell of a lot to someone in prison," Eames said, pulling her handcuffs from her back pocket. "Leila Walker, you're under arrest for the murders of William Montague and Madia Alvarez."

Leila let her tears fall freely as a younger police officer came into the room to lead her out. She stared at her feet, not making eye contact with anyone as she was walked away.

"Think she's got a chance at parole?" Eames asked her partner as their perpetrator disappeared.

"Well," Bobby said. "She chose to leave her son with Abby, might help her character. She knew enough to keep her son safe.

"Only good thing she did as a mother." Eames muttered, shaking her head.

* * *

"They're moving." Abby said to Bobby with a sad smile. "To California. I'm not invited."

It was a week later when Goren found himself at Central Park with Abby. He'd called her to meet up and inform her about some detail on Leila's arrest and upcoming trial, and Abby invited him to join her and Matty at the park. So, he went.

"John doesn't blame you, does he?" Goren asked, straightening Matty's hat on his head as he toddled past him.

"No, no, he's just... concerned. I don't blame him, really. The people who spent the most time with his son are all dead. He's pulling back from his work, doesn't want anyone to help him with Matty. Which I get... and it's good for Matty... just sucks for me."

"So, what'll you do? Another job?"

"I dunno if my heart could take it," she smiled tearfully. "Spending all that time with a wonderful child who isn't even mine..." she sighed. "In twenty years I'd find myself watching someone else's kids grow up and be too old to have my own. My apartment lease is up next month, and I have had a hell of a couple of years in New York," she helped Matty up onto his feet. "I think I'll go home for awhile."

"You mean Australia?" Bobby deduced.

"My mother's there." Abby pointed out. "Bobby, after a near-death experience, losing two friends and being caught up in some nutcase woman's obsession with you, I think I'm done." She lifted Matty under his arms and placed him in the sandpit.

"Leila could be lying about not poisoning you." Bobby said. "She said she didn't go after you, but she could be lying."

Abby sighed. "But you don't think so."

"No, I don't think so." Bobby admitted. "But, I do think it has to do with me and not you. So, you shouldn't worry about her."

"Thank you," Abby smiled. "This has been a very intense time of my life and you've... well, you've helped me out. So, thank you."

"You're welcome," Bobby returned her smile just as his cell phone beeped with a new message. Eames. New case in the Bronx. She said she'd meet him there. "Duty calls."

Matty promptly tripped in the sandbox and started crying. "Me too." Abby got to her feet. "It was nice to meet you, Detective."

She smiled again, warmer, friendlier. Or maybe that's just because Bobby was leaving that he took more notice. As he walked away, he kept glancing at her over his shoulder. She easily soothed Matty and then had him laughing again. It would hurt the kid not to have her, Bobby thought. But maybe it was better for her not to be around that family. Not to be around the city or people that Nicole infected with her viciousness.

Though he said goodbye to Abby that day, Bobby thought of her, often, because the Nicole Wallace addition to the Walker staff murders was still unsolved. As all of Nicole's crimes, the one with Abby couldn't be proven. Nicole got away with it, again. She loved that, and she loved that it churned Bobby's insides that he couldn't arrest her for things he knew she had done.

But as the weeks wore on, and Abby's attempted homicide fell further back into his pile of cases, Bobby stopped thinking about her so much. He drove by her apartment sometimes, on the way to a crime scene or a suspect's home.

That was, until almost eight months later, when he saw Abby again, back in Central Park.

* * *

_Abby/Bobby TBC in a new fic titled Set Fire To The Rain, coming soon!  
_


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